How to cut straight with a circular saw

I had to build myself another one of these, so I took pictures along the way. Track saw are no doubt a better option, but are expensive. This is an alternative to just clamping a straight edge to your piece and measuring how far away your blade is from the guide. not having a visual made me make a lot of mistakes of cutting on the wrong side of the line, this jig solved my problem. All it is, is a straight edge for your circular saw to ride along that is easy to set up. Circular saw is a very cheap tool to pick up off of craigslist, buy a new blade and it alone can serve all your rack cutting needs. If you don't own a table saw, this jig might do the job. If you own a table saw, this can still be useful for making the first couple cuts on 4 x 8 sheets.

First you need a straight piece of wood, I use the pine 1x2s as you can normally find one that is straight. Then you need a scrap piece of wood, id say for most saws you need it to be at least 3-4 inches wide, but more is fine. length of the wood is completely up to you, personally I like having one that is 8 foot and one that is 4 foot for cutting 4 x 8 sheets. This one I am making today is a little over 4 foot, which is fine. I found a scrap piece of wood that was 6 inches wide so that's what I'm using. some glue, few 1 inch screws, drill, couple clamps, bout all you need.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...pslufco2ew.jpg

the bottom piece needs to be as wide as the straight piece of wood + the edge of your blades guard to the blade. I am using 1 x 2 (which is actually 1 1/2 wide and my blade to blade guard is 1 1/2, so I need atleast a 3 inch wide piece. so my 6 inch scrap piece will work just fine.

This is me checking straightness of the wood against something I know is straight, such as my 4 x 8 sheet. I did this in the store to pick this piece of wood out.
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psddgbha3l.jpg

I counter sinked a few holes, which is optional, I would however recommend pre drilling some holes at least to prevent splitting wood. Then glue the straight board onto the bottom board, couple spring clamps hold it in place while I screw the board down.
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0tfemiy4.jpg

then clamp your piece down so your circular saw can cut the bottom piece. I used my table saw to clamp to but you could just as easily clamp it overhanging any edge, like a 4 x 8 sheet.
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psrayyz1o3.jpg

cut the bottom piece, using the straight piece as your guide
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psvcr3octk.jpg

and now we have an awesome jig
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psrk4xckkv.jpg

example usage: I want a 12 inch piece of plastic from this 4 x 8 sheet.
clamp the jig at 12 1/8 inches away from the edge on each end. Reason being I want a 12 inch piece and the blade is 1/8 thick. the jig shows you exactly where your personal circular saw will cut.
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8bihd3h6.jpg

I found it helpful to have a piece of scrap ride under the guard to keep the saw straight up and down. However normally I just free hand it and it comes out fine, just giving you options.
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psizljm25r.jpg

close enough for me
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psxxo1rxxg.jpg

What I like about this jig, is it shows you exactly where your saw will cut and screwing the two pieces together tends to make the straight piece actually stay straight for years of use. opposed to just measuring off your cut line and clamping a straight edge for your saw to ride along. Hopefully this helps someone out.

Great "guide" :-) ... Thanks!

https://www.kregtool.com/store/c48/s.../rip-cuttrade/

This has me covered LoL
Love Kreg products

Silly me, I just measure off and clamp on a straight edge. But I also have a table saw so I just have the wife catch what comes out, lol. Good idea though, I may make one. Like the tool that Pitt linked too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darkbird

I just have the wife catch what comes out, lol

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I got mine to do that a couple times, now she remembers the dust output is on that side and makes me catch. :rofl::rofl::rofl:

This is a great jig. If you have ever cut countertop, or searched on how to do it, there is pretty much one method, and it's using a jig very similar to this one, with a slight addition to one end, to help you get up and around the backsplash.

Regardless, great build and step-by-step photos. Thank you for sharing! This will save someone a LOT of headache!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

https://www.kregtool.com/store/c48/s.../rip-cuttrade/

This has me covered LoL
Love Kreg products

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Says it only cuts up to 24 inches, personally I wouldn't find that very useful, if it was longer it would be nice. I do have the new Kreg jig, k5 or something like that, awesome tool

You have to look at it both ways...
It cuts up to 24 inches but can also remove up to 24 inches off of something larger.

Forgot to mention I do have a small table saw so this helps me make some stuff smaller to manage on it too

I looked at it on my phone before, now that I look again I see how it works, I can see how it would work for 95% of cuts you could make anyways, I might have to buy one now. then I still got my jig for the rare 3 x 4 foot panels or something like that.

*edit*
ok I bought one lol. thanks for the info.